Religion Held Responsible for Low Addiction to Drunkenness of Jews

The religious training and home life of Jews is responsible for the low incidence of “pathological addiction” to drunkenness, a report to an international medical conference here said today.

The report, one of many being considered by a parley of medical experts held under the auspices of the World Health Organization, United Nations affiliate, says that although a taste for alcoholic drinks is acquired at an early age among Jews–even children being allowed a sip of wine at religious services–alcoholic abstinence is an achievement of Jewish religious indoctrination and home life which is described as “most promising” in its provisions for children.

The report predicts that the departure from orthodoxy by Jews will ultimately produce a Jewish generation with a “high incidence of drinking. ” With religion gone, the study continues, Jews too will drink for “excitement and thrill.”

The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.